First off I am so, so happy to find some current wedding planning, or recently planned wedding at the GSP as this is where my fiancée and I are getting married on December 3, 2016.

I have read through most of the information on this thread, so I apologize if I repeat some questions that may already have been asked.

I'm on the fence about using the resort makeup/hair stylists. I'm sure they're fine, but I want to look much better then fine on my wedding day! If I read correctly, GSP won't let you bring in any outside vendors besides a photographer. For ladies using outside makeup and hair stylists, how did you get around this? Did you go to their salon in PDC? Or were you somehow approved to bring them in?

Thus far my fiancée and I have booked the Ocean Gazebo. Although it costs extra, that's one thing my fiancée is pretty set on, and it looks beautiful. Depending on how many guests we end up having (and we won't know until September as that is when the final payment is due through the company we booked with), we haven't made up our mind as to what we want for our wedding dinner/reception. We too have some people with food allergies (vegetarian, fish allergy and a celiac) that we need to be mindful of, so am thinking a buffet style dinner is better suited to us. I have emailed our wedding planner at the resort and asked about being able to accommodate those needs in one of the a la carte restaurants for our wedding dinner, but haven't heard back yet. I love the looks of the Chill Out Bar private party, and if we have 40 people or more, we will likely go for it I think. If we have under 40, I'm thinking we may do one of the a la carte dinners, but I'm not sure how I feel about having a set menu.

What worked for you ladies in terms of your dinner/reception? And why did you make the decision that you made to have it where you did?

We have booked an out of resort photographer, as I thought the packages through the resort were ridiculous.

Anyway, I can't think of anything else at the moment (mainly because my 6 month old is starting to get cranky and loud lol), but any advice, tips or suggestions would be so greatly appreciated

Hi Becky!
I am with you on the diner/reception! I would love to see what others went with!
We have our wedding day confirmed for January 27, 2017! So excited to get the planning started but overwhelming all at the same time! The package we were sent has so much information! I am considering just having diner in the buffet.. I thought I read somewhere they block off an area for you. And then we were looking into having a cocktail hour after that on the beach. This seemed to be the best option for us. Our group will be around 60 people.
So the cocktail hour gives us some privacy that we were looking for. And they have a few options of types of cocktails you can have. We might do just do drinks feels like a fun way to celebrate. And a way to keep cost down. Just not sure if we can just get a sound system that we could connect an ipod to...so many questions

@nankleiner @BexA have you done a search on the main threads for this resort? There have been past brides that have been married at GSP. As well check the resort reviews. If you look right at the beginning of this thread there is a link to a brides' thread that was just married there last June. She did an awesome planning thread, has stunning photos and did a great review afterwards. Well worth reading through.

I said "yes" again to the love of my life at Grand Coral Beach Club, Playa del Carmen, Mexico on our 4th anniversary - October 20, 2015

@BexA Hey! Which photographer did you go with!? How did the packages compare to the resort photographer?

We are getting married next May at GSP and thought we would go with the resort photographer (based mainly on not wanting to pay outside vendor fees). However, we haven't actually made up our minds yet.

I'm getting married at GSP May 2017 and was considering having Rose by Dahena. For those of you who used them, did you just go into Playa Del Carmen with all your bridesmaids? If so, did you just take a taxi early in the morning? Or did you find a way around the "no outside vendor" policy? I emailed my WC and she said no outside vendors at all other than photographers

Can anyone else me please, we are getting married at GRP in April next year, we have the royalty package but as we have 45 guests we can no make use of the meal in a speciality restaurant our options are la fondue or the buffet restaurant, I am torn between:
having the meal in one of these and then adding on private drinks on the beach and dj afterwards this will cost be around 1600 dollars extra

Having the full reception on the beach for 3600 extra

Or the chill out area around 4000 extra

In my head it seems very expensive considering the package contains a meal but I want it to be special too and want to ensure we have time for speeches etc

Can anyone who has been or got married there give me some recommendations and advice if it's really worth the extra money?